Cheney mounts challenge in Orange Legislature District 8

A Village of Warwick trustee is threatening to unseat first-term Legislator Dan Castricone in a Republican primary in Orange County's 8th Legislative District.

Comment

By JOHN SULLIVAN

recordonline.com

By JOHN SULLIVAN

Posted Sep. 4, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By JOHN SULLIVAN
Posted Sep. 4, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

A Village of Warwick trustee is threatening to unseat first-term Legislator Dan Castricone in a Republican primary in Orange County's 8th Legislative District.

Incumbent Dan Castricone, an attorney who owns an insurance agency, will face challenger Barry Cheney, who is deputy mayor of the Village of Warwick and a civil and environmental engineer. Cheney enjoys wide support among Republicans in the southeastern corner of Warwick, which was added to Castricone's district when the Legislature's district lines were redrawn this year.

The two candidates also will compete in an Independence Party primary in the Sept. 10 vote. A write-in primary will be held that same day to challenge Castricone for the Conservative line, which has already endorsed him.

The Democratic candidate in the November election is Tuxedo Democratic Party Chairman Nathan Wolinsky.

Castricone, 51, of the Town of Tuxedo, touts his work in keeping county taxes low during his service on the Ways and Means Committee, as well as his role in getting county legislators to freeze their salaries for four years and contribute to their health insurance while chairman of the Personnel and Compensation Committee.

His unique proposal for saving the Valley View Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation envisions leasing a portion of the beds in the facility to a private entity and providing an incentive for the highest-paid workers at the public nursing home to retire and move into the private sector. The transfer of those workers would ease the payroll burden for the county, while providing a symbiotic relationship with the private owner looking for qualified workers, he said.

"I think we can significantly reduce expenses at Valley View that way," he said.

Cheney, who had not heard of Castricone's plan, declined to comment about it until he had more information. He would support the sale of the nursing home if no other options were available to reduce costs significantly enough to keep it county-owned, he said.

Both candidates expressed distrust of County Executive Ed Diana.

Castricone said he grew disillusioned with county leadership during the administration's handling of the closure of the county Government Center. He believes renovating the facility likely will be the least costly option.

Cheney said he would support a low-cost solution to fixing the Government Center only if it does not come at the expense of quality construction.